雨の中に立って。Stand in the Rain
by Lady Starwing
Summary: So stand in the rain/stand your ground/stand up when it's all crashing down/stand through the pain/you won't drown/And one day, what's lost can be found/You stand in the rain ..." Sheelloyd songfic


_Random little songfic that popped into my head. Enjoy, because I own nothing~_

Stand in the Rain

~ 雨~

_She never slows down.  
She doesn't know why but she knows that when she's all alone,  
feels like it's all coming down  
She won't turn around  
The shadows are long and she fears if she cries that first tear,  
the tears will not stop raining down_

~ 雨~

Sheena stood outside of Mizuho, standing in the middle of a clearing in the nearby woods, staring up at the skies above her. The group had just lost Colette, and now they were trying to form a pact with Volt … Sheena whimpered and crouched into a ball at the thought of the lightning spirits. The memories of that day still haunted her to this day, leaving her with a most likely permanent fear of lightning and most of her village dead.

Tears began to build, but she hastily wiped them away, not wanting to show any weakness. "No … no, I can't do it …" She told herself, looking down at her lap, never noticing that her eyes were becoming wetter than was normally right. But for once, she really didn't care, her self control was being whittled away by her pain.

"I figured I would find you here." Lloyd's voice in front of Sheena made her look up sharply, eyes wide with shock. The red-clad swordsman was looking at her in concern, a clearly frightened Corrine riding on his shoulders. "I went looking for you after you tore out of Mizuho, and once Corrine told me he couldn't find you, I figured that you had gone off somewhere into the woods." Kneeling before Sheena, Lloyd reached out a hand and cupped Sheena's cheek gently, worry clearly etched into his wine red eyes. "You look like you're about ready to cry." He commented gently. "Would you feel better if you talked about it?" Sheena looked away from him, hastily rubbing her eyes.

"I … if I try to explain it, it'll be an excuse." She said weakly, not wanting to explain it any more than was necessary to Lloyd. The look on Lloyd's face was one of disbelief and stubbornness; he wasn't going to leave until he got at least something out of her. Sighing, Sheena looked down at her lap again, trying to ignore Lloyd's hand on her cheek. "I … I was so stupid. I got Volt angry and he attacked … and all I could do was stand there like a stupid idiot instead of fighting back." The first tear fell in Sheena's lap, and she mentally cursed. She was NOT crying, dammit!

~ 雨~

_So stand in the rain  
Stand your ground  
Stand up when it's all crashing down  
You stand through the pain  
You won't drown  
And one day, what's lost can be found  
You stand in the rain_

~ 雨~

"Did you mean to get Volt angry though?" Lloyd asked even more gently, ignoring the tear he saw falling into Sheena's lap. When she shook her head no, he sighed and shook his head. "You dork … if you didn't mean it, why do you keep insisting that it's your fault?" He asked gently, knowing that this had to be a sensitive subject with Sheena. He had seen how jumpy she was about lightning.

Sheena looked up at Lloyd in shock, pain clearly written all over her face. "But they were expecting me to make the pact with him!" She glanced away again meekly, afraid to meet his gentle eyes for reasons she really didn't understand. "and I let them down … no, I didn't just let them down, I got them killed." Sheena bit her lip hard to keep another tear from slipping free from her face. "Even Jiji … even the chief got hurt through my stupidity. I have to take the blame for this, Lloyd … it was my fault."

~ 雨~

_She won't make a sound  
Alone in this fight with herself and the fears whispering  
if she stands she'll fall down  
She wants to be found  
The only way out is through everything she's running from  
wants to give up and lie down._

~ 雨~

Lloyd didn't respond at first, and instead opted for simply stroking Sheena's cheek gently with his fingers. She was going through a lot of pain with this, he could tell so clearly. The pain was written in her eyes, and yet she tried so hard to hide it from everyone … a part of him growled at that; Sheena shouldn't have to feel like she had to hide her pain from him! Fighting to keep that part of him from surfacing, Lloyd asked gently, "How long had you known you were a summoner when they asked you to make the pact?" Sheena mumbled something incoherent, making Lloyd cock his head to one side in confusion. "What was that Sheena?"

"… A month …" Sheena mumbled again, although this time she was audible. Lloyd's eyes hardened, but not at Sheena, at whoever had the brilliant idea of sending a young girl who had just found out about what she could do to make a pact with something as dangerous as lightning? Not responding vocally, Lloyd instead shifted so that he was sitting next to Sheena.

Taking Sheena's face in both of his hands, Lloyd tilted her face to his. A slight scowl crossed his face as he stated adamantly, "Sheena, that wasn't your fault, and every time you try to insist that it is, I will deny it. That was an accident, nothing more." Sheena stared up at him, wide eyed, unaware that there were more tears running down her face as she listened to Lloyd's words. "And if anyone accuses you of doing it on purpose, I will do things to them that they will never forget; I am NOT going to let them get away with doing that to you, you hear?"

A warm feeling settled in Sheena's stomach, even though she didn't know why.

~ 雨~

_So stand in the rain  
Stand your ground  
Stand up when it's all crashing down  
You stand through the pain  
You won't drown  
And one day, what's lost can be found  
You stand in the rain_

~ 雨~

Looking at her lap again, Sheena asked, "but why, Lloyd? Why won't you let them say it?"

"Because it's not true, Sheena. No matter what you were told to believe, no matter what anyone else says about it, that was not your fault." Lloyd's words were strong and determined, and his face came dangerously close to Sheena's. she could feel his breath against her face as he finished with, "And if that's not enough to convince you, I will tell you it myself. It's not your fault."

~ 雨~

_So stand in the rain  
Stand your ground_

~ 雨~

Sheena couldn't breathe, and she finally stammered softly, "And … and what if we go to make the pact tomorrow and I screw up again? I could get all of you killed." Lloyd let out a rueful laugh and stood up. Drawing one of his swords, he held it up in front of his face in a knightly salute.

"Then I'll go up to Volt and cut him down myself, and that'll be that." He said simply.

~ 雨~

_Stand up when it's all crashing down  
You stand through the pain_

~ 雨~

Sheena stood up and stared at Lloyd intently, not wanting to believe for a moment that this was a dream; if it was a dream, then she would never wake up from this one. "You … you promise me, Lloyd?" She asked softly.

"Of course!" Lloyd grinned his grin at her, lower his sword so that it pointed at the ground.

"I promise too, Sheena!" Corrine piped up from Lloyd's shoulder, making Sheena look at him in shock. "I won't let Volt hurt you either, and we are gonna do this!"

"He's right, Sheena." Lloyd nodded, and his grin changed to his bright smile. "I have faith in you."

~ 雨~

_You won't drown  
And one day, what's lost can be found_

~ 雨~

Sheena stood there for a moment, trembling, the tears all trying to leak free this time all at once. Unable to help herself, she threw herself at Lloyd, who dropped his sword out of shock and wrapped his arms around her as Sheena's wound around his neck. Body shaking with repressed sobs, Sheena forced out, "Lloyd … thanks … thank you …" Lloyd didn't respond at first, and simply smiled to himself.

That's when the first drop of rain hit him in the face. Looking up at the sky, Lloyd couldn't help but smile as the skies opened up and it began to rain on them. Looking down at Sheena again, he tilted her face up to look at his. As it was hit by the rain and rivulets of water ran down Sheena's face and made her bangs stick to her face, he commented lightly, "You know … you really don't have to be afraid of crying in front of me. I won't be able to tell, after all. And even if I do, who am I going to tell?"

Sheena stared at him, about to ask why, and then remembered that they were standing out in the rain. A happy laugh left her at the second half of Lloyd's statement, and the tears began to flow freely, mingling with the rain as she hugged Lloyd tightly, burying her face in his shoulder. Lloyd smiled in return, and then somehow managed to lift her just enough so that their eyes were on the same level. Sheena smiled wetly at him, and then, on impulse, leaned forward and kissed him lightly on the lips.

Lloyd kissed back briefly after a moment, humming to himself. He could taste salt admit the water, but the taste was very washed out, so he didn't comment on it. All that mattered at the moment was that for once, Sheena wasn't afraid to show her real self to him, her emotions so potent and wonderful that he couldn't help but be affected by them himself.

Once they broke the kiss, Lloyd and Sheena stared at one another for a moment before Lloyd began to laugh loudly, spinning himself and Sheena around. Although tears still ran down her face, Sheena began to laugh along as well.

After a while, they stopped again, looking at one another. Both of them had their hair falling into their faces, and their clothes were soaked through and through. Lloyd couldn't help himself, and he pulled Sheena into another kiss. Sheena replied wholeheartedly, finally feeling content; she had someplace to cry, even if it was impossible to tell that was what she was doing …

~ 雨~

_So stand in the rain  
Stand your ground  
Stand up when it's all crashing down  
You stand through the pain  
You won't drown  
And one day, what's lost can be found  
You stand in the rain_

~ 雨~

_And that's that._

_Wow, it's been a while since I've done one of these, ne? I heard this song and immediately felt that it had a connection to Sheena, and this is what resulted because of that connection._

_Oh, and the song is "Stand in the Rain" by Superchick_

_Review, pleases~_


End file.
